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Out since mid-March with a strained forearm, Brandon Morrow has been activated from the disabled list by the Blue Jays and will make his season debut tomorrow afternoon against the Rays. I tabbed Morrow as one of my “breakout picks” for 2011, which naturally led to him being shut down with arm problems, but the…

Right now Michael Young‘s contract has a partial no-trade clause that allows him to block deals to 22 of 29 teams, but Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com notes that come May 7 he’ll be able to veto all potential moves. That’s when Young will become a “10-and-5″ player, meaning he has 10 full seasons of MLB…

In what has become an annual tradition — usually on Jackie Robinson Day, but a few days later this year — the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports has counted the beans and announced that, once again, the percentage of black ballplayers is lower than it has been in years: The…

Maicer Izturis fired back at fans who question his durability, as the Angels infielder told Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times that “those are ignorant people who say that” and “they don’t know the game.” Izturis, who was on the disabled list three times last season and has played just 254 of a possible…

While I’m sort of blah on the idea of advertising taking up every available inch in ballparks these days, I realize why that’s the case and that there’s not a heck of a lot that can be done about it. So hey, if it’s going to happen anyway, we may as try to have fun…

Joel Zumaya said this offseason that he might retire if faced with another arm surgery, so not surprisingly the oft-injured Tigers reliever has opted to try rest and rehab rather than undergo exploratory surgery on his elbow. Surgery likely would have ruled Zumaya out for this season, whereas in theory at least rehabbing gives him…

Ryan Franklin may be on the outs with the fans of St. Louis, but a former Cardinal — Rick Ankiel — is in warm fuzzy land. In town as an opposing player for the first time, Ankiel took out a full-page ad in the sports section of the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday, thanking Cardinals fans for…

In general pitchers seem much more willing to embrace sabermetrics than position players, as guys like Zack Greinke, Brian Bannister, and Max Scherzer have been vocal about their interest in and reliance on various new-school numbers. Daniel Bard joined that club yesterday by admitting to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe that he visits Fan…

“We need more people like Frank McCourt.” You will not be at all surprised to learn that that is the assessment of Frank McCourt’s newest employee, Steve Soboroff, who was hired as the Dodgers’ Vice Chairman on Tuesday. Soboroff was hired in order to help the Dodgers get their security situation in order, but based…

Arizona just announced that utility man Geoff Blum will likely miss 6-8 weeks following knee surgery, although Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that an official return timetable won’t be set “until doctors see the extent of the damage.” Kirk Gibson revealed that it won’t be microfracture surgery, which qualifies as good news. Blum…

Frank McCourt’s turmoil has contributed to a state of affairs in which a team that should have a tremendous financial advantage over all of its competitors has basically punted that advantage. Given their attendance, market size and revenue — as cash cow regional sports network would make perfect sense for them — the Dodgers truly could…

Andrew McCutchen missed last night’s game after leaving the Pirates to attend to what the team is calling a “personal matter.” No other details have been offered, with manager Clint Hurdle saying only that McCutchen “went home today to deal with a personal matter” and “we’re respecting his privacy.” Left fielder Jose Tabata shifted to…

Given his early season dominance, I had made a mental note to keep a close eye on Jered Weaver. So of course I kicked myself when I realized that I had missed his start against the Rangers last night. And it was kick-worthy: Weaver gave up only one run on six hits while striking out eight…

I laughed when the Yankees signed Bartolo Colon. A lot of people did. I figured that he’d come to camp, not make the team, get assigned to extended spring training in Tampa and — as he has done a couple of times in recent years — decide that he’d prefer to be back home doing…

R.A. Dickey spoke after the Mets lost to the Astros last night. And if there are any illusions about why this guy seems so likable, they’re put to rest when he says decidedly non-platitudey things like this: “We have to find a way to be honest with ourselves about what kind of team we are.…

Ever since the Dodgers’ financial turmoil was made public, Frank McCourt has seemed to be in denial. When criticized over the team’s sordid affairs, his response has been to assert that there is no problem whatsoever. Jamie McCourt, in contrast has exhibited more in the way of — what shall we call it? — magical…

This nugget in the AP’s report about Major League Baseball’s takeover of the Dodgers is every bit expected as it is depressing: a baseball executive familiar with the situation said that McCourt is preparing to sue Major League Baseball. He has reportedly hired the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell to do it, too. Good luck. My…

Angels 4, Rangers 1: Jered Weaver remains insanely good, winning his fifth while pitching a complete game, striking out eight and walking no one while allowing a lone run. Your move, Dan Haren. Marlins 6, Pirates 0: Man, they were right about Charlie Morton looking just like Roy Halladay! Both of them got beat up while…

Veteran reliever Ryan Franklin has allowed a whopping seven earned runs in 6 2/3 innings so far this season. He has blown four saves in five chances and has surrendered four home runs. The guy has made mistake after mistake on the mound and has been mercifully stripped of closing duties. But his biggest flub…